Doesn't all US paper currency have cocaine residue on it? Something like one bill that has been used to snort the stuff contaminate several dozen like bills when they go through counting machines?

Tulare CA

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norc:

1) If you are being hit by a drug raid... Obviously you have been hanging with the wrong group of people and have had a great amount of foot traffic into your home.

2) Who the hell keeps more than maybe 100 USD on their person or in their home these days? I mean really? you keep any real amount of cash on hand? 20,000, 50,000 USD?

3) The dogs used to sniff out IED's and other war time issues aren't going to be brought into court... and shouldn't be. I don't see how this ruling affects the US military in any way.

Hazle Township PA

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the more I think about this the more stupid this gets.

Could you picture a report with your C.O. about the status of a point dog or IED dog....

Yes sir I'm going to lead a squad of men out on patrol and depend on the nose of a dog to detect IED's, ambushes and land mines but I do not have a good track on that dogs training and field evaluations. These things are largely unknown and the dog has not proven himself to be reliable in the field. MY ASS. in that case you are betting your life and the lives of the men around you that your dog can detect the explosives or human scent. The only way that this can be known is through training and certifications, and then continuing maintenance training that is well documented and properly accomplished. It is different in the drug thing in that you are not betting human lives, but you are playing with other peoples money, their human livelihood and their constitutional rights. Form an honest dog handlers point of view who also knows the games they play with the confiscated money, this is a very bad decision for the public. The dogs nose tells you if the money has been closely associated with with drugs then the handler goes to court and testifies to if and how the dog alerted when the money was hidden away from the presence of the drugs. There are so many ways this can get very screwed up it isn't even funny. The cure for all the different ways the dog, handler, or their communication can remain true, correct, and accurate, is with continuing proper training.

Red Bluff CA

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one of the things I did in the military was handle dogs, K-9, I was a certified drug dog handler. I have a bunch of problems with this ruling. It sucks and is not going to lead to honest and true findings in court. My brother was also a certified drug dog handler. So you find drugs in a house and also a lot of cash. To determine if the cash is drug money, you ask the dog. you take the cash into an office and hide it somewhere. If the dog alerts on the money because it has the drug scent on it guess what??? It can be confiscated and the local and fed cops will split it for their agencies. This ruling sucks big time. The handler and the courts have to be able to believe the dogs and that only happens because of lots of training, provable documented training. Do you think cops would lie to score a big financial gain for their department so they could get more and better equipment???? More and fancier toys to play with????? In a heart beat.....

Red Bluff CA

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The handler is the actual person giving testimony, I would imagine that his/her training would still be admissible. I am disappointed with the courts ruling though, if people's privacy is to be invaded, the dog should have a good track record. But if the handler has a poor record, there would be little need to bring the dog onto it.

Sanford NC

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Everything is a tool, people in particular. Dogs in the hands of an experienced handler, can indeed be considered a tool. A machine? no.

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Dogs are not machines. A handler can knowingly or unknowingly influence a dog to alert by acting in a certain manner.

Brooklyn Park MN

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X-ray machines have to be calibrated. Just like radar guns do so what is the difference a tool is a tool then.

Berryville VA

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Animals are a tool, a living tool. They aren't going to be exactly accuate and this is why I support R&D for technology which will replace the drug dog.

The dog is a tool no different than an X-ray machine. If the machine sounds an alarm... You get searched. Doesn't matter if the machine is working or not. If the dog alerts the officer, you are typically searched...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says police don't have to extensively document a drug-sniffing dog's reliability in the field to uphold its work in court. The high court in a unanimous decision Tuesday overturned the Florida Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Aldo, a drug-sniffing police dog. That lower court threw out drug evidence obtained against Clayton Harris during a 2006 traffic stop. Aldo alerted his officer to drugs used to make methamphetamine inside a truck. But two months later, Harris was stopped again, Aldo again alerted his officer to the presence of drugs but none was found. The Florida court said in every case police have to bring records, including a log of performance in the field, to establish the dog's reliability in court. The Supreme Court overturned that ruling.

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